Making tomato sauce

I think I mentioned here before that I had planted twice as many tomato plants as I normally do because I planned on making tomato sauce. Over the weekend I picked a bucketful of tomatoes (approx. 6 kgs) and on Monday I made what I think will be a years supply of tomato sauce for us since Amelia is off to university in a couple of weeks which leaves just Caitlin and I. Might have to give some away....along with some fresh tomatoes as there are still many more tomatoes to ripen and pick. The recipe I used is an old recipe given to me by a friend but can also be found in the Aunt Daisy cookbook.

Abundance.....

  Summer seems to have finally arrived in my part of the world and my garden is looking very lush and almost jungle like especially around my veggie patch. The potato plants are now too heavy to keep upright and are covered with flowers so freshly dug spuds will be on our menu in just a couple of weeks. The self seeded pumpkins have taken over the spaces in between a couple of the raised beds and if all the flowers turn into pumpkins I shall hopefully have enough to give away to friends and neighbours. 

 The tomato plants are laden with ripening tomatoes with more flowers still being produced. Looking forward to an abundant crop so I can make my own tomato sauce!

 Have just harvested my first crop of beetroot ever. 

 I grow strawberries every year and have previously bought new plants every 2 years which the 'experts' suggest you do. This year being on a limited budget I decided to ignore that expert advice and just take the runners off my old plants and re-plant them in as many pots as I could find along with a few mixed in with my raised herb garden. I used mostly purchased compost to plant them in and have fed them regularly with some strawberry food leftover from previous years. All that work of dividing and re-planting is now paying off as each plant is laden with fruit and every day there is a small handful of good sized berries ready to pick and eat :-)

 When the weathers good I often spend a couple of hours in my garden on a Sunday afternoon. Its a nice time to spend alone lost in my own thoughts although I'm often not quite on my own as Leo likes to follow me around resting in the shade where he can. 

And when its just too hot outside he puts himself to bed.....yes that would be my bed in exactly the spot where I sleep with his head resting on my pj's because I hadn't quite got around to making my bed that day....

November in my garden.....

 Spring seems to be the most colourful time in my garden. The camellia's and azalea's have nearly finished flowering but my many rhododendrons are just starting. 

 This old fashioned lilac bush has been in my garden for a few years struggling to survive until last year I moved it to a sunnier spot in the front garden. This is the first time it has produced flowers.

For the past few weekends I've been working on my veggie garden...weeding, digging in compost and re-arranging my herb garden from one end to the other and I'm now pretty pleased with how its looking. I have potatoes planted in the right-hand end one, and in the left-hand end one is now my herb garden along with a few strawberry plants. The middle three have tomatoes, spring onions, lettuces, basil, beetroot, red onions, rhubarb and self-seeded pumpkin plants. In each of the pots in between the containers are more strawberry plants. Some of my tomatoes have flowers forming already and we have been eating freshly picked lettuce and herbs. It's feels so satisfying to pick and eat our own vegetables and herbs plus of course they taste so much better than the store bought veggies. 

Inspired by spring......

 While it is officially the first day of spring here, the wild, wet and cold weather is not feeling very spring-like. I did manage to pick a few spring flowering blooms from my garden late this afternoon during a small break from the constant rain. 

 This pretty Scandinavian fabric arrived late last week just in time for some spring inspired sewing. It's going to help brighten up a couple 70's lounge chairs I have been working on lately and maybe a cushion or two as well.... 

In between sanding and applying polyurethane to a couple of pieces of furniture last week I did manage to cut and sew these 3 aprons for a lady at church, finishing them off on Saturday night just in time to give them to her on Sunday morning. They are to be sold at a stall to raise funds for the local 'Parkinson's' group. 

The season to come....

 After enduring a few rather too cold days this past week today's milder temperature was most welcome and I felt compelled to take a break from my sewing and housework to walk around my winter garden and take a few photos of what is in flower at the moment. Due to a mischievous kitten waking me up early on Sunday morning I had time before church to pick some Daphne, Erlicheer daffodils and Violets to fill our home with their sweet fragrance for the rest of the week.

 These girls are starting to earn their keep this week too... they must have heard me threaten to replace them a few times lately. Store brought eggs are so inferior once you've had your own free-range ones. 

And these two A4 size art supply/journalling folders are what I've produced from my sewing attic this week. I was hoping to list them in my Etsy shop tonight but I'm not happy with how the colours have turned out in the numerous photos I took this afternoon. The colours are really washed out especially with the lighter one on top in the above photo. Will have to try again tomorrow...

 Disappointing photos aside I am happy with how they have turned out. LOVE these vibrant batik fabrics.

There are 3 large A4 sized pockets to hold sketching pads, an ipad or similar sized tablet along with individual pen pockets and a couple of  smaller pockets too. 

Lets hope this milder clear sunny weather lasts throughout the weekend at least. Surely spring must just be around the corner :-)

Strange but true...

About a month ago I noticed this rose growing up from behind our TV. I was in mid-conversation with my neighbour and happened to glance over in the direction of our TV and took a double take when I noticed it peeking out from behind the TV. This rose is planted next to some stairs that go up to our deck and this particular branch somehow has found a small hole in the floor of our lounge that has been made for cables to go through. 

I find it a little creepy but quite cool at the same time. My daughters just find it creepy but I refused to chop it off until after it had flowered. It's days are now numbered :-)

Buds of spring hope.....

I noticed this week that my garden is starting to show signs of spring. I picked this bunch of snowdrops, winter cheer and the first 2 daffodils to bloom to go on our dinning table yesterday. After noticing all the buds emerging here and there I had to take a few shots to share with you here.

 This has to be my favourite to emerge so far. I love the delicate pale pink of these petals. 

Can you see the bee hiding in one of these flowers?? I didn't notice it until I uploaded the photo on to my computer. I think the best thing about flowers at this time of the year is their beautiful fragrance.

We've just had two weeks of school holidays here and during the last week we did a girls road trip down to Wellington to catch up with friends that we hadn't seen for 3 years. Fortuitously for us they were house/dog sitting for family who just happened to have a lovely home in Paraparaumu right on the beach with the above view from the lounge of Kapiti island. 

I finished up these colourful zippered pouches before we went away. They were a custom order for a lady from church who wanted them for a stall to raise funds for Parkinsons disease. As you can see they are all made from scraps and embellished with a variety of machine embroidery stitches...so much fun to make and I love each one equally. 

 

I have some more sewing to show you and lots more planned in the coming months plus I'm looking forward to learning how to upholster furniture. I have plans to eventually do something like this, this and this!! 

In my November garden......

 I think 'abundantly beautiful' best describes my garden at this time of the year. Everything is either in full bloom or about to be or is just finishing. Surprisingly we have the most amazing strawberry crop just starting to ripen. Surprisingly because these are last years plants and I cannot take one ounce of credit for their size and the number of strawberries growing as I have done nothing to help them along. They are growing in the same soil as last year and I have added nothing to it. I was always under the impression that year old strawberry plants don't do as well as new ones but mine have just blown that theory....thank you nature :-)

And here's my veggie and herb gardens looking very lush and full of promise surrounded by some newly mown grass which always makes everything look so tidy don't you think. My potatoes seemed to have sprouted and grown overnight, the sage is looking pretty with it's purple flowers but the spinach would look a lot better if the hens would leave it alone for a while although they are producing lovely eggs with bright orange yolks so I can't really complain too much.

 Looking forward to seeing what comes out of this bud. It is an oriental poppy which I have never grown before. My father grew these from seed and mistakenly brought these oriental ones instead of the 'Iceland' poppies he normally grows.

The various rhododendrons are covered in colourful blooms and as one type finishes another type or variety starts blooming keeping the bees busy as I saw while taking these photos.

 The roses are just starting to bloom too and are just covered with promising buds. They have been well looked after this year as my neighbour kindly sprayed them for me not just once but twice.

 And this is what I've been listening to whilst typing up this post...a band I have just discovered and can't stop listening to now. I can't decide which is my favourite...maybe this one or it could be this one although this one is good too. Have you heard of  "Grouplove"???